Colin Firth bags starring role as golfer

Famous for playing Mr Darcy in the 1995 film ‘Pride and Prejudice’, and King George VI in ‘The King’s Speech’ four years ago, Oscar-winning actor Colin Firth is now trying hand as a golfer in his latest flick, ‘Arthur and Mike’.

The story centres around one-time talented golfer, Wallace Avery (Colin Firth), struggling with a life from which he longs to escape. Faking his own death, he acquires a forged passport and a new identity – that of a golfer named ‘Arthur Newman’.

‘Arthur’ heads for Indiana to start a new life and a promise of a new job as a resident golf-pro at a prestigious club. Along the way, he meets the beautiful but troubled Charlotte (Emily Blunt). He soon discovers she is also traveling under a false identity, that of her schizophrenic twin sister, Michaela or ‘Mike’, who has fled her own home in North Carolina.

Arthur and Mike’s relationship flourishes and they embark on an adventurous road-trip where they take a deviation, breaking into empty mansions and assuming other people’s identities until, eventually, the role-playing games begin to lose their appeal, revealing two hearts hurt by life’s challenges.

Arthur and Mike are then forced to take another look at themselves and the real lives they’ve left behind.

Colin Firth’s ‘Arthur and Mike’ the latest in a long line of golf films

As golf films over the years have been a bit of a mixed bag. For every ‘Happy Gilmore’ there’s a ‘Caddyshack 2’ (apologies to any super fans out there). With Firth, who won Best Actor award at the Oscars in 2010 for his performance in ‘The King’s Speech’, the makers of the film will be hoping the leading man can drive home some success for the film.

The film is set to be released on DVD on August 25. Let’s hope it joins the ranks of ‘Happy Gilmore’ and ‘Tin Cup’ and doesn’t flop like some golf films of the past.